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Fort Jefferson 

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Fort Jefferson 

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FORT JEFFERSON AND ITS COMMANDER IN 1861. 

Compiled from the Official Records axd Other Authentic Sources 
by josiah h. shinn. 



Major Lewis G. Arnold. Second United States Artillery, had been in 
command of Fort Independence from-i857 to 1861. having been -ordered 
to that post after nearly four years of hard service in the Everglades of 
Florida against the Seminoles.* 

On January 4, 1861. he received the following dispatch: 

"Washington. January 4. 1861. Maj. L. G. Arnold, commanding 
Fort Independence. Boston Harbor. Hold your command in readiness 
to embark for the South, and conditionally engage steam transportation. 
Another telegram to-morrow. Winfield Scott, Headquarters of the 
Army." 

On the next day he received the following telegram : 

"Washington. January 5, 1861. Maj. L. G. Arnold, commanding 
Fort Independence. Boston Harbor. Engage steam transportation, if 

*Gen. Lewis G. Arnold was born at Perth Amboy, N. J., January 15, 1817. He 
graduated from West Point in 1837 and was assigned to the Second Artillery. He was 
immediately ordered to Florida and served in the Seminole Campaign of 1837-38. In 
the Mexican War he was engaged in the Siege of Vera Cruz (where he was wounded). 
Battle of Cerro Gordo, Skirmish of Amazoque, Capture of San Antonio and Battle of 
Churubusco, where he was severely wounded. Two brevets for gallantry, viz., "Captain" 
and "Major" were conferred upon him for his services in Mexico. 

He served in the Seminole Campaigns of 1853-57 an d commanded a battalion in a 
fight against the Indians at Billy's Town on April 7, 1856. 

Major Arnold was ordered from Ft. Jefferson to Ft. Pickens in September, 1861, 
and participated in the repulse of the Confederate attack on Santa Rosa Island, October 9, 
1861, and the successive bombardments of the enemy's works, November 22 and 23, 
1861, and January 1. 1862, for which he was brevetted Lieutenant-Colonel. 

He was made a Brigadier-General of Volunteers January 24, 1862. and appointed to 
the command of the Department of Florida which, in March of the same year, was 
changed to the Western District — Department of the South. 

He occupied Pensacola on May 9, 1862, after its evacuation by the Confederates 
and raised the L T nion flag there. 

He was ordered to the Department of the Gulf on September 22, 1862, to command 
all the forces at New Orleans and Algiers. 

General Arnold's military career was suddenly terminated on October 18, 1862, by 
a stroke of paralysis, which so disabled him as to cause his retirement from active 
service, and he died at Boston, September 22, 1871. 



4 TYPES AND TRADITIONS. 

practicable, on any reasonable terms, or failing in this, engage a sail 
vessel and proceed with your company in haste to Fort Jefferson, Tor- 
tugas Islands, to garrison and command that post. Winfield Scott, 
Headquarters of the Army." 

On the same day General Scott indicted the following letter, which 
in due course of time was received by Major Arnold: 

"Headquarters of the Army, Washington, January 5, 1861. Maj. 
Lewis G. Arnold, Second Regiment of Artillery, Commanding Fort In- 
dependence. 

"Sir : By telegram you have been instructed to embark your com- 
pany in a steamer, if one can be promptly chartered at a reasonable rate, 
and if not, in a sail vessel, for Fort Jefferson, on one of the Tortugas 
Islands, to garrison the same under your command. 

"It being possible that you may find Fort Jefferson pre-occupied by 
any hostile force whatever, you will, in that case, summon the intruders 
to evacuate the works, on condition of being landed at some convenient 
port of the United States without further constraint or legal pursuit, and 
if your summons be rejected, you will next, after careful consideration, 
determine whether you have the power of enforcing your demands, alone, 
or with the co-operation of any naval force that may be at hand ; and 
further, should the attack prove successful, you will treat the intruders, 
if not notorious pirates, with kindness and land them as above, but with- 
out any promise whatever. 

"Should you fail in the important object (after every reasonable 
effort) to get possession of Fort Jefferson, you will fall back and re- 
inforce the garrison of Fort Taylor, Key West, of which you will then 
become the commander. 

"Before giving up the hope of gaining possession of Fort Jefferson, 
which you will be slow to do, there being no naval force at hand for co- 
operation, you will then cruise about the fort some ten, fifteen or twenty 
days to wait the arrival of a war vessel — probably from Pensacola. 

"You will take four months' subsistence and some extra arms.'' 

General Scott's plan for stopping secession was, like all campaigns 
devised by him, very able in its details and nearly certain of success. 
The Southern States were full of arsenals and forts, commanding their 
rivers and strategic points. Scott's plan was to transfer the army of 
the United States to these forts as speedily and quietly as possible. The 
Southern State could not cut off communication between the Govern- 
ment and the fortresses without a great fleet, which could not be built 
for years; no rcould they take them by land without a hundred thousand 
men, many hundred millions of dollars, several campaigns and many a 
bloody siege. Had Scott been able to get these forts in the condition he 
desired, the Southern Confederacy would never have been born. He 
urged this plan upon President Buchanan, but was thwarted, it is said, 
by the power of Secretary Floyd. 

One by one these forts fell into the hands of the Southern States 
long before any overt act of war had been committed, or war had been 






FORT JEFFERSON IN 'SIXTY-ONE. 5 

declared. In descanting upon this, General Scott said, in a letter pub- 
lished in the National Intelligencer in October, 1862: 

''It was not until January 4, 1861, that, by the aid of Secretary Holt 
(a strong and loyal man), I obtained permission to send succor to the 
feeble garrison of Fort Taylor, Key West, and at the same time a com- 
pany — Major Arnold's from Boston — to occupy Fort Jefferson, Tor- 
tugas Islands. 

"If this company had been three days later, the fort would have been 
occupied by Floridians. It is known that the rebels had their eyes upon 
these powerful forts, which govern the commerce of the Mexican Gulf, 
as Gibraltar and Malta govern that of the Mediterranean. With Forts 
Jefferson and Taylor, the rebels might have purchased an early European 
recognition." 

General Scott had previously said, in a letter to President Buchanan, 
dated December 23, i860: 

"Lieutenant-General Scott will further ask the attention of the Sec- 
retary to Forts Jefferson and Taylor, which are wholly national, being 
of far greater value even to the most distant points on the Atlantic Coast 
and the people on the upper waters of the Missouri, Mississippi and Ohio 
Rivers than to the State of Florida. There is only one feeble company 
at Key West for the defense of Fort Taylor, and not a soldier in Fort 
Jefferson to resist a handful of fillibusters or a rowboat of pirates ; and 
the Gulf, soon after the beginning of secession or revolutionary troubles 
in the adjacent states, will swarm with such nuisances." 

Looking backward at this most comprehensive plan of General Scott's 
for the avoidance of war, one cannot but commend his measures and 
bow his bead to the superior intellectual power which conceived them. 
Of all this plan, comprehending all the forts within the Southern States, 
General Scott was permitted to effectually carry it out with but two 
forts — Taylor and Jefferson, 

The importance of the plan measures the importance of the instru- 
ment selected to give it effect. There were at Washington, within a 
stone's throw of the headquarters, men of higher official rank than 
Major Arnold; and there were along the coast, and nearer to Forts Tay- 
lor and Jefferson, a number of officers of the same or superior rank who 
might have been selected to carry out this important enterprise. The 
fact that Major Annold was selected to garrison and command Fort 
Jefferson at this most critical moment proves the high position Arnold 
held in the confidence of the commanding general and of the Secretary 
of War. He had been chosen by the commanding general for a most 
important enterprise and at once set about to prove that the confidence 
reposed in him had not been misplaced or unworthily bestowed. 

He left Fort Independence on the afternoon of the 4th of January 
and repaired to the shipping district of Boston, where he consulted with 
the owners of the propellers running between Boston and Charleston, 



6 TYPES AND TRADITIONS. 

and with the owners of the steamer Joseph Whitney. Having ascer- 
tained their terms, he returned to the fort, where he spent the night in 
deciding which of these two offers it was best to accept. While in Bos- 
ton, without disclosing the nature of his business, he learned that a large 
number of the owners of the propeller line lived in Charleston, S. C, 
which fact alone led him to decide that it was most advisable to charter 
the steamer Joseph Whitney. 

The following matter crept into the Boston Herald on Tuesday morn- 
ing, January 8, 1861 : "It is rumored that a detachment from the troops 
stationed at Fort Independence in Boston Harbor will sail for Florida 
on Wednesday next."' 

On January 9th the following appeared in the same paper: 

"It is reported that the steamer Joseph Whitney, belonging to the 
Merchants and Miners Transportation Company, has been chartered by 
the Government to convey United States Troops, with their officers, to 
some post or posts in the Southern States. This steamer is now coaling 
for an extensive trip and will probably leave here as soon as Thursday, 
taking her passengers from the navy yard. We understand proposals 
were previously made to engage the propellers forming the line between 
Boston and Charleston, but owing to the pecuniary interest held in these 
propellers by Charleston capitalists, it was not deemed advisable." 

On January 10th the following notice appeared: 

"Steamer Joseph Whitney cleared at the custom house Wednesday 
noon, January 9th, for Norfolk, and sailed January 10th. She carried 
750 barrels of provisions for the subsistence of the troops and 350 tons 
of coal. She was under the command of Captain Loveland." 

On January nth we find the following: 

"This steamer, Joseph Whitney, sailed this morning from Boston with 
a clearance for Norfolk, Ya., under a Government charter, but com- 
manded as usual by Captain Loveland. She sailed at nine o'clock from 
her berth at Central Wharf, and at once proceeded to Castle Island, 
where she now lies moored to the wharf under Fort Independence. She 
will there receive two companies of United States troops and proceed on 
her voyage this afternoon. It is supposed that, although she clears for 
Norfolk, the port of Pensacola in Florida is her real destination. She 
takes 750 barrels of provisions for the subsistence of the troops and 
350 tons of coal." 

On January 14th the same paper said: "The steamer Joseph Whitney 
was cleared for Key Wesl and not for Norfolk, as before stated." 

On January 15th the same paper quoted from the Boston Advertiser 
of January 14th, as follows: 

"It is now no secret that the Joseph Whitney, which left this port 
with troops <in Thursday, is bound for the Tortugas to secure the im- 
portant fortifications there; she also has instructions, as we understand, 
sis to her further destination in case anything prevents her landing her 



FORT JEFFERSON IN 'SIXTY-ONE. 7 

troops and her munitions at that place. This information is already in 
print and is probably to be seen to-day in the Charleston, Savannah and 
Mobile papers, so that we have no scruple as to giving it place in our 
column. But it is very unfortunate that the Government can take no 
step of this sort without having its plans disclosed and made known in 
advance to those who still seek to resist them. While the Joseph Whit- 
ney is ranging along the coast, the secessionists will have ample oppor- 
tunity to make any preparation for her that is in their power." 

It is unnecessary to say that the information published by the papers 
referred to and by the Advertiser was not disclosed to them by Major 
Arnold, nor was the item an original Boston item. The Advertiser 
gained its information from the Washington papers, and in this round- 
about way the people of Boston came to know Major Arnold's destina- 
tion, although unable to ascertain it from him as an original item for 
Boston papers. 

On February 1st the Boston Herald published the following dispatch: 
"The commander at Fort Tortugas informs the Government that he is 
sufficiently reinforced to defy any attack." 

This report of Major Arnold to the Government will be given in 
full hereafter ; it is only necessary to say that newspaper intelligence 
in 1861 was about as veracious and authentic as it is to-day. There was 
no such place as Fort Tortugas, and the ignorance of the editor of the 
Boston Herald adds to the humorous side of this critical year. 

On February 7th the Herald printed a leter from a soldier at Fort 
Taylor, dated January 23d, in which he said that at Fort Taylor they had 
been preparing for war for the last four weeks and were now in shape. 
He stated that the steamer Isabelle had stopped running, and that the 
mails now came by New Orleans boats. He wound up by stating that 
a detachment of troops had been sent from Fort Independence to Fort 
Jefferson, where they were now garrisoned. 

Private Edward Hetherton, Second Artillery (now employed in the 
office of the mayor of the City of New York) went from Fort Inde- 
pendence on this expedition. He says that prior to leaving Fort Inde- 
pendence no one knew their destination, not even the subordinate 
commissioned officers. They sailed under sealed orders, whose contents 
were alone known to Major Arnold. He says that everybody on board 
the Joseph Whitney thought that the expedition was intended for the 
relief of Fort Sumter; that after Sumter was passed, then the rumor 
took possession of the men that the relief of Fort Pickens was the object 
to be gained. The stop at Fort Taylor did not enlighten them at all, 
and they were surprised when the vessel headed up the channel in the 
Tortugas which led to Fort Jefferson. 

Gen. William Montrose Graham, U. S. A., retired, who was after- 
wards stationed at Fort Jefferson with Major Arnold, thinks that Fort 
Jefferson was the third largest fort in the country, Fortress Monroe be- 
ing first, Fort Adams second and Fort Jefferson third. It was a mile 



8 TYPES AND TRADITIONS. 

around the fort, and at the time Arnold occupied it it was in an un- 
finished condition. General Graham thinks that no higher compliment 
was ever paid Major Arnold than his selection by General Scott to oc- 
cupy and command this post, with orders to hold it at all hazards. Not 
only this, but a man was needed who could rapidly put an unfinished fort 
into a finished condition, and in Graham's opinion no better man in the 
army could have been selected. 

Hetherton says that when they landed at Fort Jefferson they found 
anything but a fort. It had no guns, and no material for a siege. 
Arnold made the men work like tigers, and in a most remarkably short 
time he made it not only a fort, but a very strong one. 

General Graham says that when he reached Fort Jefferson he found 
that Arnold had mounted all the guns he brought with him and was 
working hard to get more guns from Key West. His whole thought 
appeared to be to get guns and to place them in such position as to make 
them irresistible. Graham says that in these things Arnold was a 
trained master, a man without a superior. He supervised and directed 
every movement on the island, and his judgment dominated every par- 
ticular in the making of Fort Jefferson. He thinks the mounting of the 
casemate guns by Arnold at Jefferson a fine example of the highest pro- 
fessional skill, and the general work of making the fort what it should 
be a high testimonial to his general ability. 

"Headquarters. Fort Independence, January 10, 1861. 

"Sir: I have the honor to report that I embark with my command 
this afternoon, on board the steamer Joseph Whitney, for Fort Jefferson, 
Florida. Orders of the general-in-chief by telegraph. Strength of com- 
mand, four commissioned officers and sixty-two enlisted men. Names 
of officers: Bvt.-Maj. L. G. Arnold, commanding; Surgeon A. N. Mc- 
Laren, First Lieut. Henry Benson, First Lieut. M. M. Blunt, A. A. Q. M., 
and A. C. S. I am very respectfully your obedient servant, 

"L. G. Arnold, Brevet-Major, U. S. A. 
Commanding. 
"Lieutenant-Colonel Thomas, 
Asst. Adj. -Gen., U. S. Army, 
New York City." 
******* 

From the first of the preceding reports it appears that he left Bos- 
ton Harbor on January 10th; the Boston Herald reports this departure 
as of January nth. 

The Making of Fort Jefferson. 

"Headquarters, Fort Jefferson, Tortuc.as. 
"January 23. 1861. 
"Sir: I have the honor to report, for the information of the general- 
in-chief, that I have found on my arrival here, notwithstanding the en- 
ergetic, well-directed and highly commendable efforts of Captain Meigs, 
the engineer in charge, that Fort [efferson could not be successfully de- 



FORT JEFFERSON IN 'SIXTY-ONE. 9 

fended from a judiciously planned and concerted attack with a formid- 
able force without having each front of the work and each bastion armed 
with artillery. 

"By the advice of Captain Meigs I despatched the steamer Joseph 
Whitney, with Captain Meigs, Engineers and Lieutenant Benson, Second 
Artillery, to Key West, where there is an abundance of guns and am- 
munition, with a letter to Captain Brannan, commanding Fort Taylor, 
directing him to confer with Captain Meigs and to send me such guns, 
etc., as Captain Meigs might deem necessary for the immediate defense 
of Fort Jefferson, in order that the honor of the Government and the 
defense of both forts might be maintained. 

"I am happy to report that Captain Meigs has returned from Key 
West in the steamer Joseph Whitney with six eight-inch columbiads and 
four field-pieces and an ample supply of ammunition, which, with the 
two field-pieces I brought from Fort Independence, will enable me as soon 
as they are in position to make a strong defense, most probably to hold 
this important position — the key of the Gulf — against any force that is 
likely to be brought against it. 

"I herewith enclose a copy of Captain Meig's report, and I will here 
take occasion to express my high sense of the services of Captain Meigs 
to render this fort defensible. I am very respectfully your obedient 
servant. 

"L. G. Arnold, Brevet-Major, U. S. Army. 
Commanding 
"Lieut. -Col. L. Thomas, 

Asst.-Adj.-Gen., U. S. Army, 

Headquarters, New York City. 

The earlier work of mounting the guns was done by Company C, a 
single company of the Second Artillery, and entailed, as Hetherton 
said, "very hard work on the men." This company numbered about 
seventy men all told, as stated in the preceding report and also in a 
report made by Captain Brannan to the War Department on January 31, 
1861. He said that Major Arnold had landed at Key West and taken 
aboard some guns and munitions of war, having with him one company 
with about seventy men. Captain Brannan also informed the depart- 
ment that Major Arnold had already mounted his guns, and that Fort 
Jefferson was stronger now than Fort Taylor. He supplied the infor- 
mation that the four field pieces mentioned by Major Arnold consisted 
of two six-pounders and two twelve-pounders and 10,000 pounds of 
powder. 

Captain Meigs, of the engineers, reported on the 19th to headquarters 
at Washington that Major Arnold had arrived at Fort Jefferson, har- 
bor of the Tortugas, on the 19th instant, and had assumed command. 
He took no gun carriages from Key West and found none at his destina- 
tion. He had to improvise these from such refuse material as he found 
on the ground. In less than twelve days he had unloaded the steamer, 
stored the provisions and munitions of war, mounted his guns and in- 
formed the Government, as reported in the columns of the Boston 
Herald, January 31, 1861, that he could defy any attack. No finer ex- 



io TYPES AND TRADITIONS. 

ample of military energy was displayed by any commander in the war 
which followed. 

The vacillating policy of the Government was nowhere better shown 
than in the plans adopted concerning Fort Pickens. On January 10th 
Slemmer removed his forces from Fort Barrancas to Fort Pickens. The 
seceding States immediately took possession of Pensacola, Forts Bar- 
rancas and McRee. In order to prevent the United States from rein- 
forcing Slemmer, these States threatened to attack Fort Pickens in case 
any such effort should be made. As war had not yet been declared, the 
Government entered into a quasi agreement that it would not reinforce 
Pickens unless an attack should be made upon it. Thus matters stood 
from January ioth until after the inauguration of President Lincoln. 
Notwithstanding this, an expedition was fited out under command of 
Captain Vogdes and sent to the Gulf. 

The sloop of war Macedonian landed at Fort Jefferson on January 
29th, fraternized with Major Arnold, and proceeded the same day to the 
neighborhood of Fort Pickens. On the 31st the Brooklyn arrived, with 
Captain Vogdes's command, delivering a few more guns. On the 6th 
of February he assumed command of Fort Pickens, without landing, and 
remianed on the Brooklyn in the Gulf outside of Fort Pickens, in com- 
pliance with the postscript of his orders, until March 12th, when he was 
ordered by President Lincoln to land his troops, which he did. Immedi- 
ately after the inauguratin of President Lincoln, it was decided to adopt 
Scott's policy, hold all the Gulf ports then in the possession of the Gov- 
ernment, and reinforce Forts Sumter and Pickens. Lincoln was emphatic 
in his opinion that with the men on the Brooklyn in the Gulf ready to be 
landed, and two forts, Taylor and Jefferson, strongly fortified behind the 
Brooklyn, it would be suicidal not to reinforce Pickens. During all this 
time Major Arnold, following his original orders, which were given with- 
out specific instructions, had been busy making Fort Jefferson not only 
impregnable, but a fitting base of supplies for the new orders which were 
soon to arrive. With but one company he made the fort itself defiant, 
and under the new regime soon made the entire island equally defiant. 

The guns obtained from Key West were loaded on the Horace Beale 
and towed by the Joseph Whitney. Captain Maffitt, of the L'nited States 
stamer Crusader, conveyed the boats in order to guard against even- 
possible contingency. The United States sloop of war Mohawk pre- 
ceded the small fleet to Fort Jefferson and remained until the guns were 
all in position as a prudent precaution against attack. Considerable 
friction sprang up btween Slemmer and Vogdes over the command of 
Pickens, and on April 1st Colonel Harvey Brown was designated to re- 
inforce and hold Fort Pickens. He was directed to make Fort Jefferson 
his main depot and base of operation, but not to reduce too much the 
means of the fortresses in the Florida Reef, "as they are deemed of 
greater importance than Fort Pickens." This order was signed by 
Gen. Winfield Scott as general-in-chief. anl also by Abraham Lincoln 



FORT JEFFERSON IN 'SIXTY-ONE. n 

as commander-in-chief, and shows that President Lincoln took the same 
view of the importance of Fort Jefferson to the United States that Scott 
had taken months before. Brown was to relieve Fort Pickens, but in 
doing so he was not weaken Forts Taylor and Jefferson. 

Brown having assumed command and being on board the United 
States transport ship Atlantic, on April nth, wrote out the following 
most specific orders for the further strengthening of the anchorage and 
channels of entrance to Fort Jefferson. Arnold already had his full 
share of work in the making of Fort Jefferson, and was now to have 
additional responsibilities put upon him. This order was as follows: 

"Brevet-Major Arnold, Commanding Fort Jefferson. 

"Sir: You will take measures for the occupation by sea-coast earthen 
batteries of all the points in the harbor of Tortugas necessary to secure 
a complete command of the anchorage and of the channels of entrance 
thereto. For this purpose you will consider that a certain number of 
sailing vessels from the navy will be available. They will be moored in 
such positions as to command the anchorage and the passes, and will 
themselves be supported by the shore batteries. These batteries should 
be contructed to resist projectiles now used in our own and European 
navies, and should therefore be provided with earthen parapets of not 
less than twenty feet in thickness. It is considered that no battery should 
contain less than three pieces of heavy caliber, and that the means dis- 
posable will not permit more than three to be constructed at any one 
point. The battery should be closed works capable of offering some 
resistance to sudden assault ; should contain bomb-proof magazines for 
a small supply of ammunition, renewable from the ships or from Fort 
Jefferson, and will be occupied by detachments from the crew, of the 
troops or the garrison of the fort, relieved at short intervals. 

"Sufficient shelter for the garrison must be provided,. For this pur- 
pose temporary sheds of lumber will suffice. The guns should be mounted 
in barbette. They will be supplied by the fleet or the ordnance depart- 
ment. The works will be constructed of the materials to be found on 
the spot, sand and fascines or gabions. Timber will be supplied from 
the public stores for the platforms, magazines, etc. 

"The points to which your attention is particularly directed as prob- 
able to be occupied are Bird Key, Sand Key, Loggerhead Key, East 
Key. Middle Key and Bush Key. The construction of their outlines 
should be commenced at once, in order that they may be ready to receive 
the guns as soon as they arrive. In their construction your command 
will be employed. The engineer officers at Fort Jefferson will be called 
upon by you for professional advice and assistance in this matter. 

"Plans, as soon as prepared, should be forwarded to the headquarters 
of the department for consideration and aproval, but you will not wait 
for this approval of the complete system to commence the work. The 
first point on which to commence work is Bird Key. 
"Respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"Harvey Brown, Colonel Commanding." 

The above order imposed a tremendous additional labor upon Major 
Arnold, but as he was constantly being reinforced by more men, 
the weight of the labor was not so severe upon them as it had been in 
the making of Fort Jefferson. Late in February a second company of 



12 TYPES AND TRADITIONS. 

his own regiment had arrived; in April two companies from the Sixth 
New York. Wilson's Zouaves, came in, and a little later two companies 
from the First Artillery. He was virtually to build forts at every key 
which controlled a pass or entrance to the island. Colonel Brown, on 
the same date, sent requisitions to the Ordnance Department at Wash- 
ington for from twenty to twenty-four guns with barbette carriages. 
He also directed St. Clair Morton, of the engineers, to use them should 
they arrive in time, but if other ships should arrive carrying guns, he 
should take and use them. He also directed Captain Brannan to clear 
the brush and timber from the front of Fort Taylor, and made the brush 
wood subject to Arnold's requisition to make the fascines. 

An April 14th Colonel Brown landed at Fort Jefferson, accompanied 
by Captain Hartsuff, Captain Ingalls, Captain Clarke, Dr. John Camp- 
hell, Captain Meigs and First Lieut. G. T. Balch, who on that day were 
announced as his staff by General Order No. 1 from headquarters of the 
Department of Florida. 

Colonel Harvey Brown, on April 15th, on board transport steamship 
Atlantic, made a report to General Scott, in which he said: 

"We left Key West at daylight yesterday morning (the 14th) and 
arrived at Fort Jefferson at 1 p. m. I found this post in the good order 
to be expected from its vigilant commander. The present armament of 
the fort is thirteen eight-inch columbiads and a field-battery, and 104 
barrels of gun powder, 608 shells, 150 shot, and a vessel now at the 
wharf is unloading thirty eight-inch columbiads and twenty-four twenty- 
four-pounders howitzers, with carriages, implements, etc., complete, with 
350 barrels of powder, 2400 eight-inch shells, 600 round shot and a pro- 
portional quantity of fixed ammunition, so that this post may be con- 
sidered secure from any force that the seceding States may bring against 
it. I have directed Major Arnold to have four water batteries, mount- 
ing three guns each, to be mounted on the adjacent keys. This being 
done, with the command of one or two ships of war, the whole anchorage 
will be within command of our guns." 

After a full conference with Major Arnold, who represented that 
forty-two-pounders would be of little value at Fort Jefferson, and that 
his wooden gun carriages, made in the fort, were not the best, Colonel 
Brown recommended the department to change the forty-twos alreadv 
requisitioned for eight-inch columbiads and to give the major iron gun 
carriages. 




Brig. -Gen. Lewis G. Arnold, U. S. V.f 

FORT JEFFERSON AND ITS COMMANDER IN 1861. 

Compiled from the Official Records and Other Authentic Sources 
by josiah h. shinn.* 



The following letter addressed to Major Arnold by Colonel Brown 
shows the tremendous solicitude felt at Washington, and as well at 
Scott's headquarters, over the retention of Fort Jefferson, and the tre- 
mendous importance of that fort to the Union cause : 

"Headquarters, Department of Florida, 
Transport Steamship Atlantic, 

April 15, 1861. 
"Bvt.-Maj. L. G. Arnold, Commanding Fort Jefferson, 

"Major : My short stay at your post and the hurry of business pre- 
vented my conversing with you so freely as I could have wished on the 
defense of the fort. The importance of Fort Jefferson can hardly be 
over estimated, nor can I too strongly impress on you the importance of 
the constant exercise of every precaution and of the most unceasing 
vigilance against surprise. Your post may not be improperly considered 
the Gibraltar of America, and you should guard it with the same jealous 

"Continued from May Journal. 

tThe close of General Arnold's military service came on October 18, 1862, at New 
Orleans. On that day, in company with Generals Butler and Thos. W. Sherman, while 
reviewing the troops of General Weitzel's brigade, he was seized with a stroke of 
apoplexy while sitting on his horse just as Weitzel's men passed by. General Sherman, 
who was by his side, caught him as he fell from the saddle, and he was taken to his 
quarters, where he remained in an unconscious condition for some time, the surgeons 
in attendance despairing of his life. Upon regaining consciousness, it was discovered 
that his whole right side was paralyzed, and also his speech to the extent that he was 
never able thereafter to utter a single articulate word. He was ordered to his home, 
and all hope of his recovering being abandoned; he was retired from active service for 
"disability resulting from long and faithful service and disease contracted in the line 
of duty." 



14 TYPES AND TRADITIONS. 

vigilance you would were you at war with a strong maritime power. No 
vessel, government or merchant, should be allowed to approach without 
being boarded and, if necessary, required to heave-to for the purpose. 
Your guns should be habitually kept loaded and ready at a moment's 
notice to be fired ; a sufficiency of ammunition always prepared for im- 
mediate service and the officers and men assigned to the positions, so 
that by day or night each can at a moment's notice be at his post. Your 
draw bridge should always be raised at night, the embrasures closed and 
fastened, and the guards by day and night required to the observance of 
the greatest possible vigilance. The troops must be impressed with the 
necessity of almost constant fatigue in mounting guns, erecting batteries, 
laying platforms, etc., and other necessary work, and encouraged to a 
cheerful compliance with the exigencies of the service. 

"I am aware, major, of your zeal and ability and of the excellent 
discipline that has characterized your command, and I doubt not that you 
will have anticipated these suggestions. If so, no harm has been done, 
and I wish, if any here made may have escaped you, that you will with- 
out delay give them your attention. 

"I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant. 

"Harvey Brown, Colonel Commanding." 

It is unfortunate that the answer of Major Arnold to the foregoing 
letter of Colonel Brown is not in our possession. But we are not 
without evidence, not only that Major Arnold had anticipated many of 
the commands given in the letter, but that he took immediate action to 
carry the others into effect, especially that part of the order referring 
to the approach of vessels to the fort. 

Gen. William Montrose Graham, who was in the fort at the time 
of Colonel Brown's visit, and who remained there for many months 
thereafter, in an interview in April, 1906, said : 

"It was thought at that time that the Confederates would attempt to 
capture the fort in order to make it a base of supplies. Arnold recog- 
nized the danger and took every precaution to thwart any possible effort 
of the kind. He issued an order that blank shots were to be fired across 
the track of every approaching vessel. These shots always brought a 
show of colors, and the passage of the officer of the day from the fort 
to the vessel to prepare it for Arnold's visit of inspection, in person, 
which always followed. 

"One day Lieutenant Benson was officer of the day, and at a certain 
hour a vessel hove in sight approaching the fort. A blank shot was fired 
across her prow, but without effect. The vessel moved on. Then Arnold 
ordered the ball to be sent just athwart her bow. This brought her to a 
stand ; it also brought her commander Ronckendorff, lieutenant com- 
mander of the United States Navy, to the deck, and sent the stars and 
stripes to the mast. Lieutenant Benson went aboard, and after him fol- 
lowed Major Arnold. The commander fumed and swore that his flag 
has been insulted, and that he would report the insult to the proper au- 
thorities at Washington. Major Arnold replied with great suavity : 
'( 'ommander, I could not insult your flag, because by doing so 1 would 



FORT JEFFERSON IN 'SIXTY-ONE. 15 

insult my own ; but, sir, as a soldier, I am here to obey orders, and my 
orders are to allow no vessel, Government or merchant, to approach the 
fort without being boarded, and, if necessary, to require her to heave-to 
for that purpose.' This answer of the major caused Commander 
Ronckendorff to assume a much milder tone, but did not fully appease 
his wrath. Major Arnold, with a tact that never deserted him, left 
the ship and went ashore; he then sent an officer in full uniform on 
board the vessel with an invitation to the commander and all his 
officers to dine with him that afternoon. In full-dress both army 
and navy officials appeared, and the affair came off in great shape. 
Under the influence of the good food, good wine, good manners and the 
extraordinary good nature of Arnold, the commander lost his resent- 
ment and lent himself to the true spirit of the occasion. Before leaving 
he asked to be introduced to the man who fired the last shot, and when 
Lieutenant Benson was presented said: 'My good fellow, one more 
turn of my wheel and you would have sunk my vessel.' Thus ended what 
at one time seemed to be a most unpleasant affair. 

Colonel Brown upon leaving Fort Jefferson took with him twenty-one 
negroes, whom Major Arnold had hired from their masters and owners 
at Key West as laborers. Colonel Brown simply ordered the overseer 
and the negroes aboard his ship, and they obeyed. Major Arnold thought 
nothing of the matter at the time, but soon learned that Colonel Brown 
had made a very serious mistake whose consequence would have to be 
borne by Major Arnold. These negroes had been hired by Major 
Arnold to do work at a certain place under contract, and were not under 
the control of Colonel Brown or the United States. Major Arnold him- 
self would have had no right under the law to work these negroes any- 
where save the place stipulated in the contract. When the news reached 
Key West that Colonel Brown had sailed north with twenty-one slaves 
belonging to men in the neighborhood of Key West, taking with him 
their overseer, a great hue and cry was raised. The taking away of 
these negroes forced Major Arnold to apply to Major French, at Fort 
Taylor, for other negroes to take their places. The following letter 
from Major French illustrates the trouble which Colonel Brown's action 
brought to Major Arnold: 



"Headquarters, 
Troops Stationed at Key West, Fort Taylor, 
April 20, 1861. 
"Mat. L. G. Arnold, 

Commanding Fort Jefferson, Tortugas, 
"Major: In order to further the views contained in your letter re- 
ceived to-day, I have been with Lieutenant Morton, engineer corps, to 
the town of Key West, for the purpose of giving my personal guarantee 
that any negroes he may be able to engage for labor at your post will 
not be removed therefrom for any purpose whatever without the consent 
of their owners, and I further offered to obtain yours to the same 



K> TYPES AND TRADITIONS. 



effect should they be allowed to be sent. It is not necessary for me to 
allude to the reason of this unless its propriety should hereafter be ques- 
tioned. 

"In regard to the force employed at Fort Taylor, I have not yet had 
time to see Captain Hunt, but fear the lateness of the season, which 
takes the white laborers north, and the excitement in town regarding 
the capture of the black force at your post, will be difficulties not readily 
to be overcome. 

"You are correct in ascribing to me a general desire to promote the 
good of the service, which is, as it always has been, the uppermost 
thought in my action. 

"I am, major, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

''William H. French, Bvt.-Maj., U. S. Army, 
Commanding." 

'She following correspondence explains itself: 

"Headquarters, Department of Florida, 
Fort Pickens, Fla., April 22, 1861. 

"Bvt.-Maj. L. G. Arnold, 

Commanding Fort Jefferson, Tortugas, 
"Major: At my request Captain Adams, commanding the naval 
forces at this place, has ordered the ship St. Louis to be stationed off 
your fort in such manner as to give you necessary aid and protection. 
He is also required to render you assistance in any manner that you may 
require, consistently with the safety of his vessel. 

"I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient servant, 

"Harvey Brown, Colonel Commanding." 

The secession of Virginia caused one of Major Arnold's lieutenants 
to resign his commission in the United States Army, and the following 
interview with that gentleman, now residing in Boston, showed Major 
Arnold's sagacity in handling the case. Lieut. J. Watts Robinson, of 
the First Artillery, came to the Tortugas in April, 1861, from Texas, 
where he first met Major Arnold. He said: 

"I had served at Fortress Monroe in 1854-55, where I met Mrs. 
Arnold, but not the major, who was then in command at Fort Deynaud 
in Florida. I was a Virginian by birth, while my wife was Northern 
bred. Secession weighed heavily on my mind, and for some time after 
coming to Fort Jefferson I was in doubt as to the proper course to pursue. 
I was not sure whether I owed a greater allegiance to the United States 
than to the State of Virginia, which doubt was intensified by my mar- 
riage. My wife clung to the North, while my judgment was for the 
South. The officers at Fort Jefferson, including Major Arnold, advised 
me to remain in the army ; but when Virginia seceded, I decided that 
I could not bear arms against my native State, and on May 15. 1861. 
handed my resignation to Major Arnold for transmission to head- 
quarters. Arnold took the paper and said: 'You say that you cannot 
fight against Virginia. Would it not be well for you to consider whether 



FORT JEFFERSON IN 'SIXTY-ONE. 17 

you can afford to fight against the United States? I do not think you 
can, and I do not want you to do so. The position of post sutler is 
open, and you can in all probability obtain it. Now, will that suit you?' 
1 thought the matter over and concluded that Arnold's solution was the 
better one and applied for the position. Arnold convened the Council 
of Administration, a board of officers, which at once nominated me for 
post sutler. The nomination was approved by Arnold and forwarded to 
Washington the same day. Arnold then told me that I need not wait for 
a return, but to proceed North and lay in a supply of goods. I went to 
Boston, bought my goods, and in due time the appointment came. 

"I never would have been in the position of sutler to the army but 
for Arnold's shrewdness and desire to keep me out of the Southern army. 
He made a neutral out of me as a soldier, but kept my energies on the 
Union side. I have long since decided that Arnold's action was for the 
best, and have never wavered in my respect for the man. He was a good 
officer — yes, a most excellent officer, and was so considered by all the 
officers at the post and by the higher officials with whom I have con- 
versed. He certainly put Fort Jefferson into first-class shape, and when 
he' left it for Fort Pickens it was impregnable. Wilson's Zouaves were 
considered very tough customers, but they always paid their bills to me. 
In fact, Arnold's discipline required all the men to pay the sutler's bill. 
I remained at Fort Jefferson as sutler for four years, and among all the 
officers who succeeded to that post, not one of them was, in my opinion, 
the equal of the major in professional ability. I met Arnold in Boston 
several times after the war, while he was suffering from the unfortunate 
attack of paralysis, with which he was stricken at New Orleans in 
1862. But for this affliction, he would have made a great general 
officer." 

On May 1st Major Arnold reported to Colonel Brown at Fort Pickens 
that all was well at Fort Jefferson, that he was still very busy with the 
new defenses for strengthening the fort, but that he considered himself 
capable of repelling any force that the rebels could bring against him. 
This information was by Colonel Brown, on May 2d, communicated to 
Colonel Townsend of the War Department. 

That Arnold understood his orders concerning the new defenses on 
the approaches to the anchorages at Tortugas, and was proceeding to 
carry them out vigorously, is attested by the fact that on June 19, 1861, 
Brigadier-General Totten, of the engineers, addressed a communication 
to Lieutenant-Colonel Townsend, A. A. G., at Washington, which dis- 
played considerable anger and showed that the spirit of the old general 
was aroused to the utmost. He stated that on the 15th instant he had 
addressed a letter to Townsend asking that Lieutenants Reese and Mc- 
Farland be transferred back to Fort Jefferson, from whence they had 
been withdrawn by Colonel Brown. General Totten then went on to say 
that Colonel Brown had been exercising control over engineer property 
and engineer operations, which he was not authorized to exercise except 



1 8 TYPES AND TRADITIONS. 

by the express authority of the highest military power, and that he had 
delegated a like power to Major Arnold. He charged that Major Arnold 
was issuing orders to the engineer officers in charge of the construction 
of Fort Jefferson, directing what particular work they should carry on 
at that fort : that he was directing all purchases that should be made ; 
requiring the engineers to make and submit plans for Arnold's approval 
for the new defenses on the several keys in the harbor ; requiring the hire 
for labor and mechanics for the new works to be submitted to him, and 
in every way setting aside the instruction of the Engineer Department 
at Washington for plans and purposes originated on the island and ap- 
proved by Arnold and Brown. General Totten felt much aggrieved over 
this and threatened to withhold his approval from all accounts neces- 
sitated by Arnold's action. Colonel Townsend answered that the ex- 
pedition of Colonel Brown was organized under great secrecy and au- 
thorized under strict orders signed by the commander-in-chief, the Presi- 
dent, and by the general-in-chief, Winfield Scott, and that these orders 
were not on file in his (Townsend's) department, that he had never seen 
the orders, and therefore could not act upon them. He ordered Lieu- 
tnants Reese and McFarland back to Jefferson as soon as Brown could 
spare them. 

Arnold went on with his work under his explicit orders, and General 
Totten, although much mortified, was compelled to submit. The secret 
orders given to Colonel Brown authorized him to use almost dictatorial 
power and were not exceeded by authorizing Major Arnold to make the 
engineer department at Fort Jefferson entirely subordinate to his orders. 

Another most excellent testimonial in the general character of Major 
Arnold, as well as to his work at Fort Jefferson, was given by Brig.-Gen. 
Alexander J. Perry, U. S. A., retired, in an interview with the writer in 
Sr]>tember, 1906. The general said: 

"I was of the same regiment with Major Arnold, but he was many 
years my senior in age and several grades in rank. I was never in 
service with him, but as a member of the regiment knew him well. He 
always worked for the elevation of the service, and thereby impressed 
himself ineffaceably on his regiment. He was a skilled disciplinarian, but 
in no sense a martinet. The whole regiment, especially the older officers, 
always referred to him as a splendid officer and a clean man. He had 
wnn distinction in Mexico before I ever saw him, and distinction easily 
paves the way to an acquaintance. I came to know Arnold personally 
in the following manner: In March, 1861, I was ordered by General 
Scott to Washington to cover the inauguration. I was then ordered 
10 Fort Hamilton, and on the evening of my arrival was ordered on 
board the Atlantic, a vessel of the Collins line, and soon found myself 
^teaming south with destination unknown. Col. Harvey Brown was in 
command, sailing under sealed orders, and imparted no information what- 
ever as to where we were going. We had a rough voyage, but at last 
reached Key West, where we remained for a few hours. Following this 
we headed for the Dry Tortugas, and after a long, hard pull up the 
harbor, landed at Kort Jefferson, where I first saw Major Arnold. 



FORT JEFFERSON IN 'SIXTY-ONE. 19 

"He was then called 'General' by Colonel Brown and all the other 
officers, who were already well acquainted with him. I do not remember 
that he was called 'Little General' ; it was plain 'General.' 

"Arnold greeted us warmly at landing and made a fine impres- 
sion on me, an impression which has never been removed. He and 
Brown were old friends and fellow officers, and their greeting was most 
affectionate. We found that Arnold knew all about our movements and 
what was expected of him, but we were still kept in the dark. We went 
over the fort in squads and found everything in fighting order. The fort 
was ready for any enemy and the men were in prime condition. We 
learned that Major Vogdes had been there sometime before and had gone 
on to Pickens. We stayed at Fort Jefferson two days, working all the 
time. All the cannon and other munitions of war that Major Arnold 
could spare were turned over to us, and it kept us busy loading these 
on the Atlantic. We had about eight hundred men on board, two hun- 
dred horses and a hundred head of cattle. I was more and more im- 
pressed with Arnold's soldierly qualities every day we remained on the 
island. At last we got under way and were told that our destination 
was Fort Pickens, where in a few months Arnold followed and gained 
additional fame." 

The energy of Major Arnold, as well as his executive ability and 
professional attainments, was never beter shown than in his movements 
consequent upon the receipt of the dispatch of January 4, 1861, up to and 
including the time when Fort Jefferson was finally placed in perfect 
offensive and defensive condition. To charter and have prepared a 
steamer fitted to carry his detachment over the long distance intervening 
between Fort Independence and Fort Jefferson, travel among the mer- 
chants and commission men of Boston, and purchase 750 barrels of pro- 
visions for the subsistence of his troops, load these provisions on the 
steamer, together with 350 tons of coal, obtain his clearance paper and 
ship his men within the short space of six days, one of these being Sun- 
day, indicates an energy characteristic only of a man of great executive 
ability. 

Brig.-Gen. Loomis L. Langdon, in an article written for the writer 
in September, 1905, recited the following incident as gathered by him 
from Arnold's men shortly after Arnold had been transferred from Fort 
Jefferson to Fort Pickens. He said : 

"While he was at the Dry Tortugas, an incident occurred that is 
worth relating. 

"While no shots had as yet been exchanged between the Federals 
and the Confederates, some of the leading rebels in Florida had gotten 
into the bad habit of demanding from the United States officers within 
the State the surrender of everything in sight. To appreciate what fol- 
lows, it must be borne in mind that Fort Jefferson was an unfinished fort, 
garrisoned by two depleted companies, and where now the ramparts 
bristle with over two hundred heavy guns, there was not then a single 
gun of any kind mounted and ready for service. The major took in the 



20 TYPES AND TRADITIONS. 

situation promptly and, determined to make the best preparations he 
could under the circumstances, began the construction from some old 
timber of some kind of carriages for several old flank casemates howitzers 
he had found lying on the parade. One afternoon, as he was anxiously 
supervising the working of his first carriage, an armed schooner appeared 
off the fort and, sending a messenger ashore, demanded the surrender 
of the fort to the State of Florida. To say Arnold nearly had a fit is 
to put it mildly. Of course the messenger had not been allowed to enter 
the fort, but sent in his message by the officer of the guard. Major 
Arnold rushed to the embrasure nearest the sally-port and shouted out 
to the man, 'Tell your captain I will blow his ship out of water if he is 
not gone from here in ten minutes. Think I will open fire anyway.' 
Within a few minutes the schooner was blending with the horizon." 

This occurred very shortly after Arnold's landing and is authority 
for Mr. Hetherton's statement, "That if the expedition had been one day 
later in landing, the fort would have been seized by authorities of the 
State of Florida." 

General Langdon also contributes the following incident, which oc- 
curred just prior to Arnold's leaving Fort Jefferson for Pickens: 

"There was another affair happened in the fort about that time that 
evidenced the major's readiness to assume a responsibility, a quality 
essential to the making of the best officers. In this battalion brought 
from Texas was an officer of at least sixteen years' service, but who had, 
I believe, never been under fire. He was not deficient in courage, but 
somehow dreaded having his skin punctured by vulgar lead, and had al- 
ways managed to keep on some staff duty away from the firing line, pre- 
ferring to remain in rear to report progress. One day an order arrived 
from the department commander for the battalion to proceed to Fort 
Pickens immediately. This order appears to have affected the afore- 
mentioned officer in a queer way. He took to his bed and summoned the 
surgeon. Arnold suspected the captain was malingering and directed the 
surgeon to re-examine him. This was done, and the surgeon reported 
that nothing was the matter with the captain that could prevent his doing 
duty. Thereupon Arnold ordered the officer to embark on the transport 
at once with his company. The captain refused, claiming to be ill. 
Thereupon the major sent a detachment of soldiers to the captain's 
quarters and had him placed in a blanket and, despite his alternate 
angry remonstrances and loud lamentations, laid on a cot on the deck 
of the transport and conveyed to Fort Pickens under the watchful eye 
of the fearless and energetic major." 

Mr. Hetherton contributes the following : 

"Only one company, C, of the Second Artillery, was there at the be- 
ginning. Major Arnold was in command with Lieut. Matthew Blunt 
next. Soon afterward two companies of the Wilson Zouaves arrived, 
and in a short time a company of the First Artillery from Texas. Arnold 
brought some heavy guns with him and obtained others from Key West. 



FORT JEFFERSON IN 'SIXTY-ONE. 21 

The Zouaves were tough customers, being made up in part from the 
rough element of New York City. They were in a most pitiable plight 
at landing, having been three weeks on the ocean in a scow. Ar- 
nold made them take off the Zouave uniform and burn it, and supplied 
them with the regular uniform of the United States Army. Their 
officers were to report to and be governed by the officers of the Second 
Artillery, and I was to instruct their musicians in field music. The 
Zouaves were two or three times as numerous as the regulars, had 
never been subordinate to anybody and threatened to wipe Company C 
off the face of the earth. I do not know whether these threats ever 
came to the ear of Arnold or not, but if they did, it did not disturb his 
equanimity, having, in the person of Lieutenant Graham, a splendid 
executive officer. Certain it is that Arnold tamed these men into a body 
of docile and well-drilled soldiers, who came to love him because he 
was the only man they had ever met they could not bluff. They were 
sorry when he was ordered away. 

"We had plenty to eat at Fort Jefferson. Fish came in in great 
schools, and we waded in behind them and threw them to the shore with 
our hands. There was a lighthouse at Loggerhead Island, where plenty 
of turtles were to be had. Arnold let us go there at times turtle-hunting, 
and we kept the mess supplied with this savory food. We frequently 
caught them weighing from three hundred to four hundred pounds. The 
major worked us very hard in getting the fort into shape, but he always 
issued us not more than a gill of whiskey after our fatigue. Arnold him- 
self never fished, except for guns. While the men slept he was at his 
desk working out ways and means. 

"Arnold had a high regard for a good soldier, and when he wrote the 
discharge of such a one he hunted up all his good points and set them out 
clearly so that justice might be done the man in the future. He was ex- 
tremely punctilious about these things. Every man got the character he 
deserved — honestly and justly. He would write with his own hand 'a 
most excellent soldier,' or 'a most excellent soldier, but fond of rum.' 
He was also very fatherly to the men. He sent for bad characters, ad- 
vised and lectured them in private, which caused the reform of many 
of the men and also made all of them love him for the interest he dis- 
played in their welfare. 

"I was transferred on the sloop of war Richmond, along with Major 
Arnold and Company C from Fort Jefferson, to Fort Pickens, where I 
saw less of Arnold than before. He was now Lieutenant-Colonel Brown's 
chief officer and was more prominently connected with the headquarters 
than his company assignment. In the Wilson's camp affair, after Vog- 
des's capture, Arnold was placed in command, and all the credit of that 

action belongs to him." 

******* 

Brig.-Gen. William Montrose Graham was with Major Arnold at 
Fort Jefferson from March to August, 1861, and in addition to what has 



22 TYPES AND TRADITIONS. 

already been contributed by him, bas tbe following to say about that 
period : 

"Major Arnold was always referred to at Fort Jefferson as The Little 
General,' although at that time he had not attained that rank. He de- 
tailed me to mount a certain character of guns and detailed Lieutenant 
Benson to mount another character of guns. We had six companies in 
the fort, two of the First Artillery, two of the Second and two of Wilson's 
Zouaves. The officers in command under Arnold were Lieut. Henry 
Benson, Capt. Bennett H. Hill, Lieut. Lewis O. Morris, Capt. Samuel K. 
Dawson, Lieut. Matthew Blunt and Lieut. James St.Clair Morton. Major 
Arnold was a most companionable man, full of jokes, and a most excellent 
conversationalist. With all this he was the most rigid disciplinarian I 
ever served under, and despite all this had the unreserved affection of 
every officer and man in the fort. He was an officer without a single 
enemy. His reprimands were given in a dignified manner without an 
offensive word of demonstration. His temper was always under control. 
His laugh was peculiar to himself and alv/ays put everybody into good 
humor. His general education was excellent, and he was a master of his 
profession. He was always careful of the interest of his soldiers and 
always had an eye open to their comfort. In this particular he was al- 
most a father. I considered it an honor as well as a pleasure to serve 
under him. 

"Arnold had to court-martial a great many of the raw recruits, but 
they were no better and no worse on the whole than other volunteer 
soldiers. I, with other lieutenants, had to drill the Zouaves, under 
Arnold's inspection, in order to bring them into a proper stage of ef- 
ficiency. When Arnold took them they were very rough soldiers, but 
when he left the island they were good soldiers, not equal to the regu- 
lars by any means, but Ai, first-class troops. There were incorrigibles 
of course, but the ratio of incorrigibility was no greater with the two 
companies of Zouaves than with other raw recruits. 

"I remember a very amusing incident connected with these Zouaves. 
One man, of the Sixth New York, stole a sum of money from his cap- 
tain. The man arrested him, got the money, forced a confession and 
sentenced him to run the gauntlet Indian fashion. Major Arnold's at- 
tention was called to the affair, but he declined to interfere, saying: 
'Let them alone. They are going to punish the man, and as it is a pun- 
ishment set up by themselves, it may have a good effect.' The gauntlet 
was formed — the two companies of New Yorkers making a double line, 
armed with barrel staves. The criminal was made to run through, and 
his comrades gave him a tremendous beating. The man afterwards made 
a good soldier, and no charges were ever preferred against him." 
$ * ♦ ♦ * ♦ ♦ 

In August Colonel Brown made a recommendation to the War De- 
partment that inasmuch as Fort Jefferson was now completely fortified, 
and that it was becoming evident that the seceding States were not in 



FORT JEFFERSON IN 'SIXTY-ONE. 23 

position to attack it, the services of Major Arnold were demanded at 
Fort Pickens. The War Department complying with this recommenda- 
tion ordered Major Arnold, together with Company C of the Second Ar- 
tillery, to report for duty at Fort Pickens, which he did in the month of 
September, 1861. 

In all that has been written of these earlier operations on the Gulf, 
little had been said of Fort Jefferson, of the movement to fortify it or 
the importance of the position to the Union Cause. Much has been 
written concerning the action of Lieutenant Slemmer, who was in com- 
mand at Fort Barrancas in January, 1861, and who in the same month 
transferred his command from Barrancas to Fort Pickens on Santa Rosa 
Island. Lieutenant Slemmer deserves the fullest credit for this act. By 
an agreement between the Government and the seceding States, Slem- 
mer was permitted to hold Fort Pickens, but not to fortify it, nor was 
the Government to reinforce it. He made no attempt to fortify, and the 
Government abstained from reinforcing, except to the extent of keeping 
the Brooklyn near the shore loaded with men ready to land when the 
terms of the agreement should expire. Slemmer was merely a tenant 
at the will of the seceding States, which tenancy could have been termi- 
nated by them with perfect ease at any time between January 10th and 
April 12th. 

The real movements which guaranteed the holding of Pickens were 
(1) the making of Fort Jefferson by Major Arnold, and (2) the position 
of the Brooklyn in the Gulf after February 6, 1861. Of the two move- 
ments, the making of Fort Jefferson was the more important, and was so 
considered by President Lincoln and General Scott. In fact, Fort Jeffer- 
son was considered more important than Pickens by these great men, 
and if either had to be sacrificed, Pickens, by their express order, was 
to go. 

With Jefferson impregnable and a base of operations guaranteed, the 
holding of Pickens was assured, together with its corollary, the evacua- 
tion of Forts Barrancas and McRee and of Pensacola. 

Much condemnatory eloquence has been wasted by political and mili- 
tary writers upon this agreement between the seceding States and the 
Government. It is certain, however, that this much-abused agreement 
was of far more advantage to the Union than to the seceding States. 

First, it protected Slemmer in the quiet possession of Pickens from 
January 10th until April 12th, when Vogdes landed. 

Second, this agreement gave the Government ample time to so fortify 
Fort Jefferson, and to so strengthen its approaches, as to make it an 
impregnable base of operations, not only for the operations which really 
saved Pickens to the North, but also for those other operations which 
resulted in the fall of New Orleans. General Totten, possibly the 
ablest engineer in the army at that time, in a report made to the War 
Department in March, 1861, said that against a force that meant busi- 
ness Fort Pickens could not hold out ten days, and advised its evacuation. 



24 TYPES AND TRADITIONS. 

Colonel Brown, on April 17th, after his landing upon the island, was 
amazed at the weakness of the fort and so reported to the War Depart- 
ment. 

Tn whatever light we may view the whole matter, it has heen said 
that the most important character in the operations on the Gulf from 
January, 1861, to July of the same year was Major Arnold, and that the 
operations in and around Fort Jefferson were more far-reaching in their 
character and of vastly greater importance than any writer has as yet 
accorded them : It is also true that President Lincoln and General Scott 
were the only officials who grasped their truly stupendous import. 

The New Orleans Delta of January, 1861, called the attention of its 
readers to what Fort Jefferson might be and what it really was. It was 
a fort built to accommodate 1500 men and to mount 298 guns of the 
largest caliber. It commanded the entrance to the Gulf of Mexico, as 
every vessel passing through the Straits of Florida came in full view of 
its men and entirely within the range of its guns. This was what it 
might be. Its actual condition was summed up in the few words, "Cap- 
tain Meigs is stationed there with a few laborers." It had no men and 
no guns. Such was the fort when Arnold landed on January 18, 1861. 
We have seen the despatches from the general-in-chief which hurried 
him thither ; we have also seen the arguments presented by this same 
gneral to President Buchanan for a rapid occupation of this post and 
the reasons underlying its importance ; we have read the written order of 
General Scott outlining Major Arnold's work should he find the post un- 
occupied ; we have also noted the energy of Arnold and his single com- 
pany in making Fort Jefferson proof against attack ; we have noted the 
change of administration and the promptitude of President Lincoln in 
recognizing Scott's arguments concerning the paramount importance of 
Forts Taylor and Jefferson ; we have seen a great expedition sent out 
under the command of Colonel Brown with sealed orders given under 
the greatest secrecy, signed not only by the commanding general, but by 
Abraham Lincoln himself, which orders were not made known to even 
the adjutant-general of the army, nor filed in his office; we have seen 
that while the primary object of the expedition was the relief of Fort 
Pickens, that explicit directions were given that under no circumstances 
were the defenses at Forts Taylor and Jefferson to be weakened, as these 
forts were of more importance to the Union cause than Fort Pickens ; 
we have seen from both official and unofficial sources the armaments and 
munitions of war hurried to Arnold, the vigilant commander of Fort 
Jefferson, and the tremendous energy displayed by the man in putting all 
these in place ; we have line upon line from both officers and men show- 
ing the intelligent zeal and confidence with which Arnold executed his 
trust, and a great mass of matter showing the entire confidence of the 
Government, from the President of the United States through all its 
officers down to the enlisted men, in Arnold's professional ability, not 
only to make this indefensible fort of January, 1861, an entirely impreg- 



FORT JEFFERSON IN 'SIXTY-ONE. 



25 



nable fort six months later, but also to defend it against all comers. He 
found it but a fort in structure and in name ; he left it in September, the 
Gibraltar of the Gulf, bristling with more than one hundred guns, manned 
by more than five hundred well-disciplined troops and surrounded by 
numerous additional defenses. Silently and without ostentation — without 
a single newspaper article heralding his achievements — this true and 
tried soldier met every responsibility imposed upon him and carried to a 
successful completion the great enterprise confided to his care. 

In the recommendations of the Engineer Department for the fiscal 
year July 1, 1861, to June 30, 1862, an appropriation of $500,000 was 
asked for Fort Jefferson and its defenses, a larger recommendation by 
nearly 100 per cent, than was made for any other fort. Congress re- 
sponded with alacrity, thus crowning with official sanction the supreme 
importance of Fort Jefferson as a base of operations for the various mili- 
tary, expeditions on the Gulf. When this appropriation was made Fort 
Jefferson was already a palladium of strength, irreducible by any force 
the enemy should bring against it — and the man who brought it into this 
condition of efficiency was Maj. Lewis G. Arnold, who may without any 
impropriety be styled "The Maker of Fort Jefferson." 




FORT JEFFERSON IX l^Cit. 



•WN J5 m\ 



